Mothers
by Crawler
Summary: How did Riku and Sora's mothers feel about their sons being missing for so long?


I would desperately, DESPERATELY love a beta for Kingdom Hearts stories. Very much. Please? I haven't exactly played the games, just watched cutscenes (and I did play CoM!). Someone who knows what's going on would be a great help.

Thank you.

Other than that: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the really cool stuff within it. I do, however, own three of the four characters in this story (Sion borrowed from The Bouncer).

This story takes place during the second game, shortly before Kairi runs away. It may be slightly confusing... I don't know. I was trying an idea that made sense to me, but it may not to anyone else.

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_**Mothers**_

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Behind the little island church was a cemetery, and around the cemetery was a fence. Along the fence were many bushes, and beneath one particularly bushy bush were two crooked wooden crosses, with names carved into them. They were lovingly, though not expertly, made.

Two figures, a mother and her daughter, knelt by this bush, the branches pushed just far enough aside so the crosses could be seen. Aurora Bailey, the mother, held the leaves back, while Kana, her daughter, placed a handful of flowers, dandelions and morning glories and little blue forget-me-nots.

"Riku likes yellow and blue," Kana said, blinking her doe-like eyes up at her mother.

Aurora smoothed back Kana's dark hair, so unlike her son's, and smiled fondly at the five-year-old. "Yes, Kana, those were his favorite colors. Yellow and blue."

"Will he like my flowers?" Kana reached out to pet the yellow dandelions. Riku, in her mind, was a blur of yellow and blue, with silver hair and sea eyes. He never would play dolls with her, even when no one else was around, and she begged him incessantly, but sometimes, he would carry her around on his shoulders, or swing her in circles until she didn't know how to stop laughing.

But Riku was gone now. Everyone told her that Riku was away, traveling, and that he'd come back some day. Kana believed them, because they were grown-ups, and they knew about everything.

Her mommy still liked to come here, though, even though Kana did know that cemeteries were where dead people lived. Her mommy always took her to this bush, and there were two little wooden crosses hidden there, with writings on them. One of them, Kana could read, because half of it was part of her name, and the other half was her big brother's name. _Riku Bailey._ The other one she couldn't make out so well. The first word was S-o-er-a. The second one was too long for her. Her mommy always told Kana that Sora was one of Mrs. Ducouer's sons and Riku's best friend. Kana didn't remember him, even though her mommy said they had met, a couple times.

"Mommy?"

Aurora's eyes were closed, her hands clasped in a silent prayer, but she looked down again when Kana called to her. "Yes, baby?"

"Why does Riku have a cross with the dead peoples?"

Aurora closed her eyes again, a pained look on her face. "Because... this is a place where we remember people who are gone. And Riku is gone now, so we remember him here."

"But because he's just traveling, he gets a cross waaaaaay back heres, instead of out there with the other dead people, because he's not dead, right?"

"That's right." Five-year-olds really were amazing, able to answer their own difficult questions.

"And Sora's got one here too, because he's Riku's best friend, and best friends should _always _be together, like me an' Sion." Kana nodded, satisfied with her own reasoning, and Aurora pulled her closer for a hug.

"Yes, that's right. Sora and Riku are traveling together, so they have crosses together."

"Aurora."

Mother and daughter turned to see Mrs. Ducouer behind them, a little boy of five peeking out from behind her legs and grinning at Kana. "Can me and Kana go play, Mommy? I don't wanna visit Sora again, it's booooring!"

Seiya Ducouer gave Sion a little shove, and he held out his hand to Kana before the two of them ran off to play among the gravestones. Seiya herself knelt beside Aurora, pushing the branches a little further aside to see Sora's cross. "The ways of these islands certainly are cruel, sometimes," she said quietly.

Aurora nodded, knowing exactly what ways Seiya was talking about – the ways the island's inhabitants handled losses at sea.

With the sea such an imposing presence in their lives, it was only natural that there would be deaths in the blue waters. Originally, long ago, if someone disappeared, after the entirety of the islands were searched, they would be declared dead, and a proper grave would be erected. However, occasionally, the dead would return, having been out in a boat or a raft, trying to explore.

One time, a very wealthy man went out and was presumed dead. When he returned, three years later, he was furious to find his business had been taken over and his estate spread among his children, leaving nothing left for himself. To prevent such an upset again, the mayor declared that no missing person could be presumed dead without a corpse until ten years had passed after their departure. And, if after ten years, the person showed up again, alive, then they would be given a gift of money and shelter from the entire community, with help getting their life set back up, but all they had had before would be gone.

This made sense, the island people said, and they agreed to follow this plan. After all, if you were missing for ten years, it was your own fault for not getting back sooner.

Aurora and Seiya, however, quickly learned that there were drawbacks to this plan, when their own sons had disappeared. No bodies had washed ashore, so Riku and Sora had ten years before they could be declared dead. In the meantime, they were merely "traveling."

But ten years of traveling took a toll on the heart of a mother.

"When will we be allowed to mourn them?" Aurora asked softly, reaching out to trace the R on Riku's cross. "Why can't we just say they are dead?" Tears welled in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "I don't feel I'll ever see Riku again."

"We can't give up hope," Seiya replied, just as quietly. "They'll find their way home."

"Not if they're dead."

"No, not if they're dead." Seiya reached over and took Aurora's hand in hers, offering silent comfort with a squeeze. The mothers were suffering similar pains.

Some thought Aurora's pain was worse than Seiya's, as Aurora had lost half her children, and her oldest, her firstborn. Seiya, meanwhile, had only lost one out of six, and added two more since (twins, born not long after Sora vanished).

Others thought Aurora's pain was less, as Riku was a constant reminder of her youthful promiscuity, having been born without a father (Kana was as well, but at least she _looked _like Aurora. Riku resembled none of the islanders). Sora, on the other hand, was Seiya's oldest son, and a cheerful favorite of everyone's.

Seiya believed she and Aurora suffered equal pain, but her own burden was lessened slightly by having a family to mourn with, to share the grief and to keep her busy. Aurora only had Kana, who was still too young to understand what it really meant for her brother to be missing.

Aurora didn't believe in measuring pain. Pain was pain, and Seiya hurt the same she did. Neither of them were allowed to bring an end to their suffering, though, to declare their sons dead and try to heal. They were forced to hold to the hope that the travelers would someday return, and go to bed every night not knowing where their children were. Yes, the ways of their islands could be cruel. Aurora felt she would never see her little boy again.

"I don't believe they're dead," Seiya confessed, reaching out to knock Sora's cross further askew, so it bumped against Riku's. "Because they left together. And you know those two as well as me. Together, they can do anything. Simply surviving would be a piece of cake."

Aurora smiled weakly. Seiya's eternal optimism had been passed on to all her children, and was a fountain of strength for Aurora in these dark days. She looked up at the twilight sky and imagined Sora and Riku, on a raft together, and her smile grew stronger. "Yes... anything... including come home."

And at that moment, she actually believed it.

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If you're confused, just send me your questions, and I'll try to answer them. However, since this is only a one-shot, you have to include a way for me to contact you back when you question me.

Crawler


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